What are the different Diamond Shapes & Cuts

Diamond Shapes & Cuts

Group A: Brilliant Cuts (Maximum Light Return)

Round Brilliant Cut

The modern Round Brilliant features a highly engineered 57 or 58-facet structure designed according to strict mathematical proportions to maximise light reflection. Its primary advantage is unmatched fire and brilliance, which effectively masks minor colour tints and small natural inclusions. However, because cutting a round diamond forces the gem cutter to discard up to 50% of the rough stone, it carries the highest price-per-carat premium of any shape.

Princess Cut

Characterised by its crisp, square silhouette and inverted pyramid profile, the Princess cut features an intricate pattern of up to 76 chevron-shaped facets. This intense faceting style yields exceptional sparkle that rivals the round cut, while its geometric shape allows cutters to retain more of the original rough diamond for better value. The primary drawback is that its sharp, 90-degree corners are vulnerable to chipping, requiring protective V-prong jewellery settings.

Radiant Cut

Combining the elegant silhouette of an emerald cut with the fiery faceting of a round, the Radiant cut boasts 70 brilliant-style facets and distinctive cropped corners. This hybrid design delivers spectacular brilliance while offering superior durability against accidental impacts and edge chipping. Buyers should note, however, that the radiant’s deep pavilion (bottom portion) tends to concentrate body colour, making it essential to prioritise a higher colour grade.

Cushion Cut

The Cushion cut features a square or rectangular silhouette with softly rounded corners, resembling a pillow, and is typically cut with 58 brilliant facets. This historic shape is celebrated for its exceptional “fire” (flashes of coloured light) and a romantic, vintage aesthetic that has surged in modern popularity. Because it features a deep profile, it tends to look slightly smaller face-up than a round diamond of the exact same carat weight.

Oval Cut

The Oval cut is an elongated brilliant shape utilising a standard 57 or 58-facet configuration to deliver a display of light performance similar to a classic round. Its stretched silhouette creates an elegant lengthening effect on the wearer’s finger and offers a larger face-up appearance than its actual carat weight implies. The main technical challenge to watch for is the “bowtie effect,” a dark shadow across the centre that occurs if the stone’s depth proportions are cut poorly.

Pear Shape

Commonly referred to as a teardrop, the Pear shape seamlessly blends the round brilliant and marquise cuts into a unique 58-facet asymmetrical design. This shape offers a dramatic, flattering look on the hand and provides excellent surface area visibility per carat. However, the delicate pointed tip requires careful alignment and a protective prong to prevent chipping, and it is highly prone to showing a central bowtie shadow.

Marquise Cut

The historic Marquise cut features an elongated football silhouette tapering into two sharp points, expertly mapped with a standard 58-facet brilliant pattern. It holds the crown for maximizing face-up surface area, making a diamond look significantly larger than other cuts of identical weight. Because the elongated ends can easily snag or chip, the points must be securely shielded by V-prongs, and buyers must look closely for any centre light leakage.

Heart Shape

Representing the ultimate symbol of romance, the Heart-shaped diamond is a highly specialised variant of the round brilliant, typically requiring 56 to 59 precisely balanced facets. Achieving an aesthetically pleasing silhouette demands exceptional symmetry between the two rounded lobes and a distinct centre cleft. This cutting complexity means labour costs are high, and poorly cut hearts can look bulky or fail to sparkle uniformly across the cleft.

Trillion Cut

The Trillion (or Trilliant) is a striking triangular cut featuring either sharp or gently curved edges, typically finished with 31 to 50 brilliant facets. Often utilised as spectacular accent side stones, they can also serve as bold, contemporary centre stones that offer an incredibly wide face-up layout. Due to their shallow depths, they maximize visual size but can lose their sparkle quickly if dust or natural skin oils accumulate underneath.

Group B: Step Cuts (The “Hall of Mirrors” Effect)

Emerald Cut

The Emerald cut features a rectangular silhouette with cropped corners, defined by long, parallel step facets (usually 57 or 58) that create a striking “hall of mirrors” visual effect. Rather than masking flaws with intense sparkle, this open layout celebrates a stone’s pure transparency and understated, architectural elegance. Because the large, flat top table acts like an open window, natural inclusions and body colour are highly visible, requiring a premium clarity grade (VS2 or higher).

Asscher Cut

Often described as a square emerald cut, the Asscher features a square silhouette, deeply cropped corners, and a high crown accented by 58 step-cut facets. Developed in 1902, its steep facets converge into a distinctive central “X” pattern that evokes a captivating Art Deco appeal. Like its rectangular emerald counterpart, the Asscher does not hide internal imperfections well, and its deep cut means it will look visually smaller from above than a brilliant cut of the same weight.

Baguette Cut

The Baguette is a sleek, slender rectangular cut featuring a minimalist array of around 14 straight step facets running parallel to its edges. Traditionally used as side stones in fine jewellery, they add geometric structure and draw the eye toward a design’s primary centre stone. Their small size and simple facet pattern mean they possess very little brilliance or fire, making it crucial to match their colour and clarity perfectly to neighbouring diamonds.

Tapered Baguette Cut

A variation of the standard baguette, the Tapered Baguette features a geometric step-cut layout where one end narrows significantly to form a trapezoidal silhouette. They are engineered almost exclusively as flanking accent stones to gracefully mirror the natural taper of a jewellery band toward a central gem. While they create seamless transitions in custom design work, finding a perfectly matched pair in colour, clarity, and dimensions requires strict quality sorting.

Carré Cut

The Carré cut is a rare, classic square step-cut featuring sharp, non-cropped 90-degree corners and a clean, minimalist facet arrangement. It offers a sophisticated, vintage glow that emphasises a diamond’s crystalline structure over blinding sparkle. Because it lacks cropped corners, it is highly sensitive to edge-chipping during setting, and its open facets necessitate choosing an exceptionally high clarity grade to avoid visible flaws.

Group C: Historic & Heritage Cuts

Old European Cut

The Old European cut is the historical ancestor of the modern round brilliant, meticulously fashioned by hand prior to the 1930s with 58 chunky facets, a high crown, and a small table. Instead of maximising white light return, it was designed to maximise internal fire and draw deep colours out under warm, romantic candlelight. Because these stones are hand-carved antiques, they lack the crisp symmetry of modern machine-cut stones, offering a unique, non-standardised character.

Old Cushion Cut (Old Mine Cut)

Dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries, the Old Cushion (or Old Mine) cut features a squarish shape with rounded corners, a remarkably tall crown, and a large, visible bottom facet known as a culet. These hand-crafted diamonds possess an organic, pillowy geometry that reflects a rich history and a distinctive, slow flash of light performance. While highly prized by collectors for their historical rarity, their proportions frequently display asymmetry that departs from modern technical grading standards.